Adventure Quest Hybrid Ultimate Guide

Adventure Quest Hybrid Ultimate Guide by Ward_Point

Mighty Warriors hone their bodies, charging into the fray. Deft Rangers attack from afar with Bows, Guns and Spears. Insightful Mages expand their repertoire of spells, wrecking havoc from far behind the frontlines. But the versatile Hybrids are the ones that adapt to any situation possible. As monsters charge towards what apparently seems to be a Warrior engaging in close combat, planning to overwhelm him with numbers, the Hybrid smiles, and with a single Word, casts a destructive spell, much to the surprise of the monsters. Monsters who manage to sneak up on a what is apparently a Mage out of mana are surprised when the Hybrid pulls out a Bow and begins to shoot at them with unnerving accuracy. Monsters who manage to get up close and personal to what apparently is a Ranger are brutally surprised when the Hybrid pulls out a blade and begins to hack away with surprising strength. They might not be as powerful or as skilled as any of their highly specialised cousins, but being able to use all forms of attacks, be it Melee, Ranged, or Magic, a Hybrid can take advantage of an opponent’s every weakness and strike them where it really hurts!

Index:

To go to a particular area, hold “Ctrl” and press “F” to bring up the Search Function. Once that is brought up, type in the section that you’re searching for. Eg: Typing in “UHG001” will bring you to the Stat Evaluation portion of this Guide.

[UHG001] : Stat Evaluation

[UHG002] : Stat Formula

[UHG003] : Hybrid Stat Builds

[UHG101] : Balanced Hybrid

[UHG102] : Custom Hybrid

[UHG103] : Power Hybrid

[UHG104] : Hybrid Leaning Warrior

[UHG105] : Hybrid Leaning Mage

[UHG106] : Beastmaster Hybrid

[UHG107] : Guardian Hybrid

[UHG005] :Weapons

[UHG200]: Weapons of Awe

[UHG201]: Fire

[UHG202]: Water

[UHG203]: Ice

[UHG204]: Earth

[UHG205]: Wind

[UHG206]: Energy

[UHG207]: Light

[UHG208]: Darkness

[UHG006]: Armors

[UHG301]: Class Armors

[UHG302]: Choosing your Mastercraft!

[UHG303]: Guardian No Drops

[UHG303a]Armours of Awe

[UHG303b]Guardian Armours

[UHG303c]UltraGuardian Armours

[UHG304]: Armours by Level

[UHG007]: Shields

[UHG008]: Spells

[UHG009]: Pets

[UHG010]: Miscellaneous Items

[UHG011]: Helpful links

[UHG012]: Credits

[UHG013]: Change Log

Stat Evaluation

[UHG001]

Strength: The first of two main damage stats for a hybrid. Strength increases the attack damage of your Melee and Ranged attacks. It also increases BtH of Melee weapons. Any non-Custom Hybrid will definitely max out this stat eventually. Strength also increases the damage of Ranged Weapons.

Dexterity: The first support stat. This stat increases your blocking, BtH to all weapons, and is especially important for adding BtH to your Ranged Weapons. While Luck gives better offence, Dexterity should not be neglected because training this stat is pretty much the only way to use Tonbo-Giri and Mjollnir properly.

Intelligence: Your second of two main damage stats for a Hybrid. Intelligence increases attack damage for Magic weapons (Albeit, at a weaker boost.) But it also increases the damage of Spells and increases your Mana pool. Once again, any non-Custom Hybrid will max this out eventually.

Charisma: Charisma affects your Pet damage and accuracy. Very few hybrids go down this road as their stats are spread out enough already. This stat should not be trained.

Endurance: Health is always important, but having too much into this stat is a simple waste of stat points. Any health left over after a battle is essentially wasted HP (Unless you’re going on a long quest.) However, Endurance’s use should not be underestimated.

Luck: The more offensive of the two support stats. Luck increases your average damage output. However, with your stats already so spread out, you will have very little space to add Luck.

Stat trainers

Combat Practice This trainer is simply a Drakel Sword Master that can be used to test out and compare items. He gives you no gold and no money for beating him, but simply the knowledge of perhaps which weapon is better in practice. He the perfect opponent to gather charge points on those special class abilities and also accumulating a bit of SP before you run off to battle.

Sir Lanceler This all around hybrid can train you until you get 75 stat points in a category. The nice part is you can actually train all 6 stats here without having to move around a lot.

Neberon the Mage Neberon can train intelligence, charisma, and luck. He can train you during or after those 75 points and is not terribly difficult to take down. When you run out of mana, he will sporadically give you two more blue potions. But be forewarned! When training against him in intelligence, he will lock your attacking ability and thus, if you have no spells, buckle down for a very long and possibly impossible battle. So make sure you have at least one spell before training with him!

Grimweld the Warrior Grimweld is the town Warrior Trainer, he can train up your endurance, dexterity, and strength. He is probably the easiest of the three to beat earlier on (although so long as you have spells, Neberon isn’t bad at all either)

Sir Pwsnalot This happy fellow allows you to untrain your stats if you’ve somehow made a mistake and he does it for free as well (though, the other trainers still charge when allocating them back). To find him, simply die in battle and when Death greets you, click on the hourglass next to him. From there just keep trying purple portals until you find his tombstone and voila! If you’re a guardian and found him once, you can just access him easily from the guardian tower teleporter.

General notes about builds: Now that you know exactly what Hybrids are, we’ll go over some Hybrid stat builds next. Remember, these builds are just RECOMMENDATIONS. You are in no way obliged to follow them. There are far too many permutations for me to pen down here.

Advantages: Hybrids are able to use Melee weapons and Magic spells with respectable power. This versatility is what makes Hybrids so awesome.

Disadvantages: Depending on your build, you will either lose accuracy and blocking for more power, or power for accuracy and blocking. Either way, this loss will take the form of damage that is lower than the Pure Mage and Warrior counterparts.

Pros: Balanced DEX Hybrid is able to use Spells and all types of Weapons with equal prowess. Depending on your enemy, you can either bombard them with spells, or start the Weapon swinging. You have excellent versatility, being able to wield spells and Melee or Ranged weapons with equal skill.

Cons: The Balanced Dex Hybrid doesn’t do “outstanding” damage, unlike their Pure/Lucky cousins who have Luck and can benefit from Lucky Strikes.

Pros: Balanced LUK Hybrid deals a great deal more damage since they benefit from Lucky Strikes. You’ll be able to use Melee weapons and Spells with equal ferocity.

Cons: You have lower blocking (+10) and accuracy compared to a DEX Build. Also, most Ranged Weapons will be closed to you as you don’t have the necessary DEX for Ranged accuracy.

Stat distribution and other notes: Both Hybrids increase their stats at the same rate, in a balanced manner. Priority would be INT>STR>LUK/DEX. Intelligence and Strength are interchangeable, depending on your personal preference. The priority of your equipment upgrades will be left to you, a balanced Hybrid needs all kinds of equipment, and this will have to be your personal preference.

Stat Distribution and other notes: You sacrifice some damage for far greater survivability. Never underestimate the power of Endurance for this little sacrifice will actually increase your odds of surviving powerhouses such as Sarah and Elder Void Wyrm until your strategy is perfected. How the 25 points is sacrificed from your stats is entirely up to you, although I recommend the above stats, since it will not affect your Weapon Attacks or your Spells too much, as you can see. Once again, Luck is an alternative option to Dexterity. This build applies only to Adventurers, Guardians can max out three stats at level 136 with higher Endurance.

Stat Distribution and other notes: At level 25, 50 Strength is favoured due to a larger number of Weapons available early game and a lack of affordable low level spells. At level 50, however, Intelligence will catch up due to the use of Spells. From then onward, Intelligence and Strength are favoured over Dexterity by a great amount, although it is nowhere as skewed as the Annihilator. The power difference will be felt at level 100, where 100 DEX is usually enough for accuracy as long as Intelligence and Strength levels are at decent amounts. Eventually, you’ll want to max out Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence, although your endgame build could also be that of a Custom Hybrid, favouring slightly more Endurance at small cost to your offensive power.

Advantages: Higher than other Hybrid Weapon damage, provided that you’re using Melee/Ranged weaponry. (Ranged does not apply to LUK hybrids.) This build is skewed greatly those who enjoy pummeling their enemies into the ground with some magic support in the mid-game. With high levels of Strength and Dexterity/Luck, Melee or Ranged Weapons are favoured greatly over Spells

Cons: Low spell damage, although Spell power catches up eventually, you will miss the power or spells, especially in short fights.

Stat distribution and other notes: Obviously, Strength and Dexterity/Luck is favoured greatly over Intelligence. Weapons and offensive armours are incredibly important to this build, and your equipment, especially armours, diverge from the Standard Hybrid’s because you will definitely want to focus on Armour offence rather than defence, as spellcasters may want to sit in.

Stat distribution and other notes: Spellcasters may prefer to take this route. INT and DEX is favoured over Strength but a significant amount. This build actually favours farming in the mid levels because a Mage’s damage output with Spells is much high than a warrior’s when there is a full heal between every battle. Try to avoid long battles, though. Mana isn’t infinite, and once you run out of it, you have weaker than normal Weapon damage. You might want to prioritise the obtaining of defensive armours and spells with this build, since you’ll be spending most of your time sitting in a armour to tank damage while you spellcast.

Pros: You are able to use Pets as an external source of damage and other special effects. This includes effects such as Nerfs.

Cons: You have greatly reduced accuracy and completely no blocking.

Stat distribution and other notes: Charisma will have to be ahead of Strength and Intelligence to make the Pets worth your money. With the Nerfpets at their current standard, this build is still feasible to survive with. CHA should always be slightly higher than STR or INT because of the training difficulty of pets. Most Pets by level 90 require a CHA of 190 to attack 100% of the time. As a general guideline, Guardians should have 160 CHA by level 90, because that’s where Nerfkitten (90) out-damages Nerfkitten (50). Because of the lack of DEX/LUK, there are accuracy and blocking problems. However, accuracy isn’t as great a problem as the blocking as the Nerfkitten/Nerfbat can remedy accuracy problems. This is a far more expensive build to maintain, in addition to normal equipment, you still have to spend the huge amount of money on Pets, however, it may be well worth it.

Pros: Does a significantly larger amount of damage in terms of spells. Has slightly higher stat damage for all damage types, slightly higher accuracy, and slightly higher blocking compared to the DEX Hybrid. Has a better chance of inflicting status conditions compared to DEX Hybrids. A happy medium between Dexterity and Luck Hybrids.

Cons: Sacrifices ~200 health in the form of 30 END as compared to the Hybrids.

Stat distribution and other notes: The Guardian Hybrid is recommended for Guardians only due to the borderline nature of the stats. Furthermore, only experienced players should attempt this build due to the stats being incredibly spread out. The Guardian Hybrid beats its Balanced Hybrid counterpart because of Spell damage, where the Guardian Hybrid wins outright. INT is raised higher than other stats because we’re really banking on Spells to get us through, especially through early levels. At level 75, where monsters get tougher, defence is needed in the form of DEX although LUK somewhat compensates for this. By level 100, DEX must be of a respectable amount due to rather large variety of Ranged Equipment (Valhallan Maul, Pavana, Quindent.) at level 90-100 for Ranged BtH even though Luck makes up for this lack somewhat. At level 120, INT must be maxed out, with STR at the magical 0.75 of INT so that Melee/Ranged weapons pull ahead of Magic equipment. Eventually, at level 135, we have the stats that just barely manage to beat the Balanced Hybrid in Weapon use. A problem is slightly lower health than other characters, as seen from the table very kindly provided by Aelthai below.

quote:

END HP
0 775
25 969
50 1163
75 1356

It’s … not a small difference at all, 25 END is worth somewhere near (but not quite) 200 HP at those levels.

Personally, I’d call the build with ~200 more HP, ~ the same damage, and 2 points lower blocking a better build, at least at the moment.

-Aelthai

Now that you’ve picked a build, let’s move on to Weapons. All the weapons listed here and Melee and Ranged Weapons for a simple reason. They’re Base/Random is higher, and they a higher stat bonus per 100% stat.

Weapons

[UHG005]

Weapons of Awe[UHG200] Guardians, you are able to obtain these incredible weapons. The Weapons of Awe are obtained by finding all five parts in either Random Adventure, or in Somewhere, at the crossroads. Patience will definitely pay off for these incredible weapons scale to your Character’s level – 5. With it’s Specials, it is the most powerful weapon compared to any weapon of similar level, and you save a hell lot of money! The Weapons of Awe follow the Elemental Specialisation of your Guardian/UltraGuardian/Armour of Awe. You can swap them permanently by visiting Valencia privately, and paying a small fee of 20 Z-Tokens. Once you’ve decided on what Armour specialisation you want, skip over the Element and fill in the missing holes. For example, if you chose Fire for your specialisation, you no longer need to get any Fire Weapons, but you’ll still need at least one weapon for every other element.

Blade of Awe: The Blade of Awe is a standard melee weapon, which isn’t too good for a Hybrid, considering our other options.

Dagger of Awe: It gets a +3 BtH with the appropriate 85/88 modifier to damage. This makes it slightly weaker than the Blade of Awe at low Monster defences. However, as monster defence increases (Monster defence 60 and above), the greater the advantage of the Dagger. Also, the Dagger is base heavy, which gives you more stable damage. However, since Hybrids must choose between Luck or Dexterity, and will therefore lack accuracy, they get a higher average DPT using accurate gear, such as the Dagger. Both LUK and DEX Hybrids can use this weapon.

Spear of Awe: The Spear of Awe is essentially a Ranged version of the Dagger of Awe. It is also an accurate weapon, gaining a +3 BtH with 85/88 to damage. At high levels, because of its higher accuracy, it outdamages the Blade of Awe. However, the Spear is random heavy, and if you’re lucky, it may hit higher, or unlucky, hit lower. However, over long periods of time, it will average out the same with the Dagger. Luck Hybrids will want to skip out on this and stick to the Dagger.

Staff of Awe: The Staff of Awe is a Magic weapon. You shouldn’t even be thinking about using this.

Low Levels – Up to L50 Fire is an important starting element. Adventurers and Guardians alike start of with Fire Blade and the Hotshot Sword. Upon hitting level 35, though, Guardians have a cheap and powerful weapon in the form of the Fyre Force. Adventurers have to wait 10 levels later to get the Kragoth’s Broadsword. Kragoth’s Broadsword follows post-sweep standards, though, and will definitely out-damage the Fyre Force. Fyre Force is dirt cheap, however, at only 1500 Gold.

Mid Levels – L50-80 Guardians, that 1500 Gold will last you all the way to level 70 where Fyre Force Ultimate is obtained.

High Levels – L80-110 Fyre Force Ultimate will serve Guardians well until level 85, where you can get the Guardian Kragoth’s Broadsword. Similarly to Guardians, Adventurers have an upgrade at level 85, and it’s a more powerful version of the Drakeltongue you already have. Both Characters, however, will want the Nova Knight Kilij.

Top Levels – L110+ You’re not too far from the top now. Nova Knight Kilij will last all the way to level 125, where you can get yet another Kragoth’s Broadsword. However, if you think your Kilij can last until 130, so be it, because at level 130, the Falchion makes itself available.

Low Levels – Up to L50 The Temporary Plungerizer is surprisingly strong. You just need to be able to reach the Isle d’Oriens, then grab it on your way out. If, you don’t want to sacrifice your no-drop slot, though, a bit of trial and error will get you through the Talk like a Pirate Day Quiz to get the relatively cheap Anchorhand. The Bizarre Flecks Part IV Quest requires you to defeat a Graveyard Golem, which is tough, but manageable if you get the proper Guests. At level 30, there’s an optional upgrade in Guardian Anchorhand (For Guardians, of course.), but most Guardians will definitely want the Gaiden’s Sharp Guardian Blade at level 42. Adventurers have to wait for level 45, where there’s a Vile Cutthroat’s Cutlass.

Mid Levels – L50-80 Guardians and Adventurers alike can hold onto their Plevel 40+ Weapons until level 67, where there’s another of Gaiden’s Blades, this time, it’s a Fine Blade. Level 80 brings about another Anchorhand. If you’ve owned one before, I’m pretty sure you love the raw power of it.

High Levels – L80-110 Gaiden’s Keen Blade is available at level 92 (You sensing a pattern yet?) It’ll last for another 13 levels, and yet another Anchorhand is available. You should be getting REALLY good at the TLaPD Quiz…

Top Levels – L110+ The pattern is completed by Gaiden’s Razor Edged Blade at level 117. Adventurers shouldn’t upgrade their Water weapons any further even though there are other higher level weapons because this is a Swept weapon and has higher Special Damage than other weapons released earlier. Guardians, however, have a final upgrade at level 130, with yet another thirteen level difference. The Guardian Anchorhand stays at the top.

* Note: LUK Hybrids may want to get the Melee weapon with the closest power level to the Spires where they’re available.

Low Levels – Up to L50 Ice isn’t THAT necessary in the low levels, and your other weapons should make up for it. Chill Ripper comes at level 20. The level 50 Ice Katana will do just fine. It’s Freeze is plain awesome. When inflicted, your opponent cannot attack you, and his fire resistance is increased by 1.5x of his Ice resistance. While you suffer from a weaker special, you get to avoid a turn of damage, and you have the chance to hit your enemy with a Fire attack to make up for the damage lost from having a weaker special!

Mid Levels – L50-80 The Rast Axe is a decent weapon, if only for the lack of Ice Weapons around. Guardians, however, can pick up the Guardian Frigid Spire at the same level. Ice Katana is simply too weak, even with its special. At level 71, head over to the Jagged Peaks to pick up your first of the Spines series, Brittle Marrow Spines is essentially an Ice Katana with an inaccurate lean. It’s special is awesome, making up for its lack in raw power. Freeze takes priority, but what it can’t Freeze, it’ll try to Paralyse.

High Levels – L80-110 All Hybrids may want to consider the Glacial Short Staff as a Spellcasting weapon. Similarly to the Lightning Rod, the Glacial Short Staff nets you a spell comparable to another spell of its level. Instead of taking up a spell slot, though, it takes a Weapon slot. It’s Diamond Dust ability actually can beat Ice Nine, but as Monster’s blocking goes up, so does Ice Nine’s attractiveness due to the 27% BtH. Those of you who really don’t want to have Weapon slots occupied by a spellcasting weapon, upgrade at level 85 instead to the Frigid Spire. Wind and Ice aren’t related well, so you can use this weapon without worrying a decrease in overall damage. At level 98, there’s another of the Spines. Make a choice between Freeze, and power, because at level 99, another option of the Barbarous Club is available. Take your pick.

Top Levels – L110+ Andy’s Archaic Club is next at level 114. This will last until level 128. Once again, make the choice between Power and Freeze, since Absolute Zero Spines is 128, and Andy’s Prehistoric Club is 129. Take your pick… Luck Hybrids may want to favour the Absolute Zero for a slightly better chance of Freezing, while DEX Hybrids have slightly better accuracy with the Prehistoric Club.

Note (For Adventurers only.): It’s worthy to note that the Adventurer no-Drop now scales to your level – 20 (As of 04/07/11). It’s not THAT strong, but it’s sufficient. Also, it doesn’t have a Special, which means that it’s stronger if you use it in an offensive armour. If you buy a Earth Weapon, you’ll have to forgo one element. The fight is usually between Ice and Water, because they’re essentially sister elements. You’re probably better off sticking with Ice, since their top weapons have PLevel 128 and above, while Water weapons end at 117. Early on, you might want to buy an Earth weapon, and eventually, once you hit higher levels (At 120 or so) you might want to fill up that last slot and use your No-drop as your Earth weapon.

Low Levels – Up to L50 Early on, Earth isn’t really important. Either way, both Adventurers and Guardians can pick up the Geoto Mace at level 38.

Mid Levels – L50-80 Baneful Chimeran Spear is available at level 60. At level 77, the Special-less Sword of the Titans is a tad inaccurate, but insanely powerful if you have the Strength to back it up because of the 1.09 multiplier.

High Levels – L80-110

If you’re playing a DEX Hybrid, consider the Centaurion Glaive instead of the Sword of the Titans. Since a Hybrid’s stats are pretty spread out early game, a weapon with a Special will be doing better damage per turn compared to a special-less weapon, which depends a LOT on your stats. Once again, Guardians have a choice between the Sword of the Titans and the Centaurion Glaive. Both of them have a -5 BtH Modifier, so it really depends on what your Wind armour is. If it’s a defensive armour, pick the Glaive, if it’s something leaning more towards offence, pick the Sword. If it’s simply a standard armour, get the Glaive.

Top Levels – L110+ By this time, your stats should be pretty darn close to maxed. Sword of the Titans is tempting, but the Virulent Chimeran Spear has far better BtH. Hybrids, let’s face it. You don’t have much accuracy because you have to make a choice between Luck and DEX. If you have a choice between an accurate and inaccurate weapon, always pick the more accurate one. Either way, both are really powerful, and if you’re a token buyer, the Virulent Chimeran Spear can have its trigger activated by any of the Poison Arrow series. As for Z-Token options, you can choose between the Mountain Splitter Z, or a slightly more expensive option, the Mastercraft Alternating Blade, which allows you to choose between standard and inaccurate forms.

Adventurers, by the time you hit Level 130, your No-drop will have a PLevel of 110, which makes it comparable to the Sword of the Titans 117. If you’re not willing to buy Tokens, my suggestion is to sell off the Sword, since it’s inaccurate lean is a problem for Hybrids. The accuracy lean of your No-drop actually works in your favour at high levels.

Low Levels – Up to L50 Chain Axe at level 12 is for both Guardians and Adventurers. The Beast Trainer’s Whip is a decent early game upgrade, but you can do without it, actually. Aerodu Sword at level 38 is amazing, being able to last all the way to level 75!! It’s dirt cheap too!

Mid Levels – L50-80 The Fenris Gasher is the only realistic Weapon to get at this level. The quest may be hard, but with enough Guest support, along with a decent set of other equipment (Undead Guardian Plate, or even Boreal Bolt), you shouldn’t have too many problems obtaining this weapon. The alternatives at this level are way too expensive.

High Levels – L80-110 At level 85-90, you have many options. The Classic Hybrid can opt for one of the following three, Pavana, Guardian Crane Fan, or the Exterminator. In this case, Pavana is a clear winner, followed by the Guardian Crane Fan. Adventurers have to stick to the Exterminator, or go straight for the Pavana, I’m afraid.

For Guardian Luck Hybrids, you should most definitely go for the Guardian Crane Fans. Adventurers, stick to the Exterminator, the difference between the Pavana and Exterminator with LUK as a third stat instead of DEX is only around 3 points in Dracopyre of Night.

Regardless, Luck and Classic Variants alike will want the Tonbo Giri at level 105. Expensive, but most definitely worth it. For Luck Hybrids, the high sellback will benefit you at level 120…

Top Levels – L110+ Here, we have a level 120 Wind Weapon! Beautiful Crane Fan is a Melee Weapon, but Tonbo Giri’s damage tops if you have Dexterity. However, if you’re a Luck Hybrid, the Beautiful Crane Fan will be your final weapon. Classic Hybrids should stick to the Tonbo.

Low Levels – Up to L50 Enforcer Blade has been recently swept, and it’s strong for its level now. Blade of Rennd has been a classic here since it was released, and hopefully, it’ll be here for years more. Energy Cleaver at level 45 is an intriguing choice. It has a special trigger on Xyfraggs, but personally, it just isn’t worth the time. The alternative is a more expensive Zale Broadsword. It does have a paralysing Special, but the cost may be a tad expensive.

Mid Levels – L50-80 Bad Axe, yet another weapon released with the original Knight Class. It’s strong and cheap. Don’t those old weapons sorta rock? Level 70 has a slightly expensive weapon, Merridi’s Sword. It’s great for its level. A powerful upgrade at level 80 is the Brilhado Blade.

High Levels – L80-110 Lightning Rod is another weapon available at level 85, like the aforementioned Glacial Short Staff, the Lightning Rod saves you a spell slot, and casts Chain Lightning (Effectively a Megashock with a different name) at a cheaper Mana cost. It’s worth considering, especially if you feel that you need to save on the Spell slot. But do be aware that at level 88, there’s a Dr Boom Powershard.

Also at level 85, there’s an optional upgrade in the form of the Valhallan Maul. When used with its Full Set. It can paralyse your enemy. Though it has a 400k price tag, take a look at the sellback of 360k. You effectively only spend 40k when you do your upgrade. It’s really powerful, and can last you pretty darn long. With Power Hybrid stats at level 100, it beats the level 100 Merridi’s Sword. The level 100 Merridi’s Sword is a good alternative, although still weaker than the Valhallan Maul. The Level 106 Zale Broadsword is not limited by needing a full set to paralyse. As long as its Special activates and you win the roll, you can paralyse your enemy. Named after the Norse God’s Thor legendary hammer, Level 105 Mjollnir is your penultimate weapon.

Top Levels – L110+ The level 130 version of the Merridi’s Sword is immensely powerful, and much stronger than Mjollnir. This will be your final weapon.

Low Levels – Up to L50 Guardians have a LOT more choices than their Adventurer counterparts. Both start with Sunslash Polearm at level 10, then a level 30 Bad Axe, and the newly swept Golden Summoner at level 45. Golden Summoner still costs only 2000 gold. Really cheap for 20 levels of use.

Mid Levels – L50-80 At level 65, Gleaming Beam Sword and Lance are available. For those who want to get through safely, the Beam Sword is the weapon for you. For those of you with a gambling streak, the Beam Lance’s nasty blowback is something to watch out for. It does, however, have a Special that is really strong. There’s another option in the form of the level 68 Lustrous Fairche Solais, though.

High Levels – L80-110 Adventurers, either of the Beam Weapons or Solais will last you until level 85. And you don’t have much choice at this level. If you can’t get the Golden Axe at level 90, the Majestic Lance is available for purchase.

If you truly insist on not obtaining the Axe (You only lose 40k gold after buying and selling, compared to buying and selling a number of weapons…) You have the level 105 Beam Sword. Adventurers also have this option. While the Sword is stronger than the Axe in terms of raw damage due to a 110% BRS trigger, it smacks approximately 10% of the damage you deal back on you in recoil damage. For low END characters, watch out for this.

Top Levels – L110+ Guardians and Adventurers who got the Beam Sword should upgrade at level 115 to the Stretchy Sceptre (115). Do note that it STILL loses to a Triggered Golden Axe… Regardless, the Guardian Lustrous Fairche Solais is a valuable upgrade that triggers on Undead monsters as well, dealing a load more damage than the Golden Axe. At level 130, Guardians have Unverander Blade and Sovereign Lance available as well, but they both lose to triggered Solais. At level 135, the Stretch Sceptre is available. It beats the untriggered Solais by 20 but the triggered Solais beats it by 15 points. (75 Defence, 200 STR/DEX) Consider it as an upgrade.

The ultimate goal is Oaklore Crusher which costs around 11k Tokens. This is currently an interim standard weapon, with damage, as of 13/5/2011 losing to the Stretch Sceptre, but it should have a PLevel of 143, until this is fixed, Guardians should stop at the Sceptre.

I’m sorry, Adventurers, but your level cap is 130. Make a choice between the Unverander’s Blade and the Sovereign Lance. Sovereign Lance has +2 BtH, so it hits slightly harder, although LUK variants will want to avoid the Lance and pick up the Blade.

Low Levels – Up to L50 There are quite a large number of Darkness Weapons, but few of them are good enough to be used. At level 10, your first Darkness weapon will be the Nefadon Claw. It’s got a commonly occurring special that’s powerful, and perfect for early game use. At level 25, the Bludgeoner is easily obtainable. Black Axe, a cheap weapon, can be obtained at level 35. Guardians, however, can choose to pick up War’s Guardian Edge. It’s a Swept weapon, which means its slightly stronger. At level 50, Hei Quan (Literally Black Fist in Mandarin) can be picked up by Guardians.

Mid Levels – L50-80 Where Guardians can pick up the Black Fist, Adventurers have their own no-Special weapon in Irolustre’s Slashing Claws. However, you’re only holding it for 7 levels IF you upgrade. Both characters can pick up the Kragoth’s Broadsword at level 65. Doom Mace isn’t that cheap, but it’s yet another post-sweep weapon that’s pretty good.

High Levels – L80-110 Shadowspear, my favourite Darkness weapon of them all… It beats the level 80 Doom Mace by a large amount, and thrashes most of the level 90 Weapons that are available. It’s an optional upgrade, though, because most people don’t like its 400k price tag. However, like all Ubers, it has a 360k sellback, making its effective cost only 40k. For such awesome power, that 40k is well spent, since you’re upgrading anyway. The Doom Mace (80) is good enough to last. This powerful Spear will last till level 105, where another of Kragoth’s Broadswords make an appearance. This is a definite must-have upgrade.

Top Levels – L110+ Guardians Gold buyers, you have one final upgrade left. The Guardian Doom War Mace is the strongest gold Darkness Weapon. For Adventurers, Irolustre’s Eviscerating Claw is the last gold upgrade. Everyone should note, however, that the Claw does better in offensive armours. Since you’ll generally be using the Claw against Light monsters, (Which you’ll be sitting in the fully offensive Solaris Plate…), you might want to consider it. The strongest Darkness Weapon has a power level of 135, War’s Pulverizing Edge is incredible, and is definitely worth the 11k Tokens you spend on it.

Armours

[UHG006]

Class Armours

[UHG301] Class armours are different from normal armours in that they offer 10 abilities, ranging from powerful attacks, paralyzing and freezing (and more), increased defence, healing HP and MP and even lowering your opponent’s stats! In order to unlock these abilities, though, you need to train in the class and this involves going on a mini quest. You have to fight several monsters and pass a stat roll at the end of it and if you’re succeed then your class level goes up by one level. It should be noted that adventurers can train up to Lv10 in a class but can only use the first 5 abilities. For greater detail, please look to the Guide to Class Abilities for advice on how and when to use the abilities.

Tier one classes

These are the base classes. They are your introduction into classes and are available to everyone, intended for use between level 0 and level 40. As a Hybrid, you can use all these Base Classes with equal effectiveness. Regardless of using them, they are all required in order to train Tier 2 or Tier 3 Classes.

Mage: Mage Robes The main two Metamagics here are Empower and Focus Spell. These two Metamagics will be the most often used. Empower Spell to your damage directly, increasing your farming speed as a result at the cost of efficiency. Focus Spell is particularly useful against hard-to-hit monsters such as Sneaks and Am-Bushes. With Focus, your spells gain an automatic +15% BtH, which is a significant increase in your accuracy. Wild and Stable Spell are useful Metamagics, but they have to be used properly in order to see their full effect and of course the +10 Intellect boost which can still be useful. For more information on Wild and Stable Spell, refer to the aforementioned Guide in the Mage section.

Fighter: Fighter Armour Fighter Class offers great damage supplements at rather cheap SP cost. Simply toggle on its Passive abilities and pull off its Active Abilities to slam straight through your enemies. It’s rather straightforward to use and needs to be trained anyway.

Rogue: Rogue Outfit It offers basic ranged attacks and some interesting abilities. Hide in Shadows gives you greater defence in exchange for doing less damage, but it has a chance of attacking for slightly greater damage. This class is more defensively minded, and just isn’t as good as Fighter for damage purposes. Regardless, Jinx the Black Cat is a Guest that decreases enemy Bonus to Hit (BtH) by 10%. That will last you into the 100s because at higher levels, it’s better to avoid damage entirely rather than “Give and take”.

Scholar: Explorer’s Outfit Scholar offers a single useful ability, being Zard Prism. With this, you can convert any attack into an element of your choice. It’s pretty much only useful for covering Elements that you haven’t got weapons for. This is nowhere on your priority list, but should be trained regardless.

Tier 2 classes

Tier 2 Classes all require a Level 1 Class in order to be trained (With the notable exception of Vampireslayer, which is useless anyway.) Most classes here are capable of being trained at level 40, but it’ll be slightly tough at that level. Please do NOT ignore your General Armours simply because you think you have Class Armours which can last up till level 70. Very few of these armours can actually make it to level 70, and you’ll probably find that at level 60 or so, the use of these tier 2 Classes will plummet.

Beastmaster: Feral Garb, Primal Garb Hybrids might want the bonus damage from Guests. (Guardians will love Dual Summon). Beyond that, its other abilities are not particularly useful. For Beastmaster Hybrids, Dual Summon in addition to Wild Force is reason enough to carry this armour around. Beast Lore will Element Seek, but by level 40, you’d definitely have one weapon of each element by then. Adventurers might want to skip this, because Dual Summon is closed to them.

Berserker: Berserker Hides The recurring theme here is “The less HP you have, the harder you hit.” Needless to say, Characters with high Endurance do very well in this armour. Hybrids won’t have much of health, but you DO have a decent amount of Strength to back it up. Ticking Clock and Roar of Courage are support abilities that give you a boost in your damage when health is low. Most of its abilities are rather straightforward, but be careful when using Berserk or Ancestor Spirits. Since it auto-attacks for the next five turns. Nightmare Visage is a situational useful ability, but do note that when you’re below 25% Health, especially for a Hybrid, I figure that you’ll be worrying about surviving than decreasing your opponent’s stats.

Dracomancer: Dracomancer Armour A pre-sweep Class Armour, it does have some uses. Dragon Wings is a very powerful wind spell early on, dealing decent Wind damage along with a cheap Mana cost. Great Dragon works only 60% of the time, but by virtue of it being one of your few Void spells to use against Terrorzards or Zeels, this should definitely stay in your inventory until Archmage Research is obtained. Half Dragon Shapeshift has great power along with fantastic accuracy. It does cost 150 Mana per cast, but that’s isn’t really too much for a Hybrid to use. Overall, it’s quite a useful Class.

Dragonslayer: Dragonslayer, Elite Dragonslayer, Golden Dragonslayer, Golden Dragonslayer Eclipse A specialised class that is VERY effective against dragons and dragon-type enemies. Golden versions of the armour get damage bonuses and effects against undead and lycan/vampiric enemies as well, however, it does slightly less damage against normal Dragons. However, this requires Lv10 Vampireslayer to unlock the last three class abilities. Being a Hybrid, you can use almost all its skills to great effect. Dragon Strike allows you to strike with greatly increased damage at a huge cost of SP. Dragon’s Breath is a powerful element-seeking spell against dragons, and at lower levels, it may even beat some of the standard spells. It’s quite costly on the mana if you’re at level 50-60, though. If you’re in for a long fight, Cripple is an unbelievably powerful effect to have, decreasing enemy Strength and Dexterity. Besides Cripple, Poison is also an incredibly useful ability to be used in long fights. Dragon’s Blood isn’t particularly useful for its SP cost, however, it’s still a nice option to have. Daze Dragon is currently not useful since very few Dragons use their MP or SP to attack, but when Dragons DO use them, this will definitely come in handy. With a 120% Trigger on all Base, Random and Stat damage from ANY damage that comes from Dragonslayer against Dragons (This includes Spells!), this Armour is a must-have when faced against Dragons. Definitely a Class Armour worth using. Its raw damage holds at a 198% damage against non-dragons. It’s definitely viable against non-Dragons at lower levels.

Knight: Knight Armour Definitely worth training. Mace Stun is a stronger than normal attack and it also lowers your opponent’s melee and ranged defence by 2 every time you use it, regardless whether you hit or miss. At a 60 MP per cast, you’d want to be careful when using it, although it’ll definitely help against Am-Bushes or Sneaks. Armour Ascent and Cavalry Charge do tremendous amounts of damage (The former being slightly inaccurate.) Arrow Assault will be the Warrior’s version of a Wind Spell. Dealing amazing Ranged damage, it does 14 Hits, with 100% Stats each. It’s incredibly Anti-Sneak, and being a Hybrid, you can even save some cash on a mid-game Wind Spell.

Ninja: Shinobi Shozoku Shinobi Shozoku is a very powerful class armour between level 30-60. It has incredible base damage running at 130% per hit. All of Ninja’s abilities are also centered around raw damage, and surviving long enough to deal that damage. Dragon Double provides Evasion, which synergises with Merciless. Smoke Bomb, Viper Strike and Ninja Death Strike are a chain-combination that will quite the amount of damage if you happen to be lucky. That being said, the SP cost may not be too worth it. Don’t overlook Swift Slash, Ninja Stars and Sacred Duality. All three are incredible attacks, but they do have high SP and MP costs.

Pirate: Swashbuckler’s Raiment, Sea Scourge Ninja and Pirates have always been set against each other, and even in their Class Abilities, it is no exception. Where Ninja offers offence, Pirate offers defence. Where Ninja offers direct damage, Pirate offers a variety of support abilities that are meant to overload your opponent with Negative Status conditions. Taunt, Afraid, Burn and Entanglement represent the complete repertoire of Pirate’s negative Statuses. Petey is an amazing guest with abnormally high BtH (70%) and is a sustainable Guest when in one of the Pirate Class Armours.

Wizard: Wizard Robes Mage gave a preview to what spellcasters can do, empowering their spells with Metamagics, Wizard takes this to a new level, empowering spells passively at no extra mana cost! The Generalists get a lower boost to their Power and Efficiency (138% damage and 95% mana cost), however, it applies to all spells that they cast, the Specialists (Wizards who specialise in ONE element.) get a larger boost (172% damage and 90% Mana cost) to their own Element. Take this into consideration when you pick your Robes. You can, of course get more than one. The two passive abilities alone are reason enough for any Hybrid to use, especially when it comes to farming. All characers can summon Elementals, this is the new Beastmaster! Heh. Amplification allows you to expend a tiny bit of mana per turn to store as charges (That’s what the Efficiency helps you to do, XD. That extra mana goes into powering another powerful spell.) and then release these charges as a powerful spell. This Release is given a huge boost by Lore, which applies special calculations to it. Lore, in itself gives spells a huge boost to damage.

Lore is awesome, by being in Wizard’s robes, you already get a boost to damage, by activating this, while you reduce your efficiency (being in Wizard’s robes) If you treat this like casting in a normal armour, you’re effectively doubling your damage output while using 190% mana cost (Generalist). It’s still a good deal. Specialists get a better deal out here, you deal a total of 220+% damage, at only 166% mana cost. REALLY AWESOME for farming. Gybbi’s Fist is interesting, to say the least. It deals damage based on the opponent’s health. Dharna is the MP regeneration spell, using SP to heal MP. Apparently, the Generalist’s SP cost is cheaper because there aren’t as many good times to use it as compared to the Specialists since the Generalist defences are all-rounded (Equally as lousy) compared to the Specialists (One element is much better than the rest). At level 9, Generalists gain Elemental Explosion, a really powerful spell when your enemy has average resistances all across the board. Specialists gain the ability to summon their Element from their own Plane for really powerful hits.

The final ability is nothing short of amazing. Specialists hit with their own Element, but this spell adds a Status infliction to it. Great damage AND a status infliction? Awesome.

Martial Artist: White Gi With 4 different schools to train in to chose from, this is the biggest class released yet. The good thing is you do not need to train in all five schools to be able to use all the abilities. Your class level carries over from armour to armour so you only need to do it once. Now that you know that, lets look over the different choices.

Serpent Fang Gi is the most defensive of all the Martial Artist Classes. Counterattack combined with raw defensive power of a Sneak gives you incredible damage-stack up over time. This Class is definitely worth training up. This tops the low level armours in terms of Combat Defences.

Swift Talon Gi is all about offensive power. Pure Builds will use this Class best, since LUK and DEX will make up for the lack of defence. A Hybrid such as you should stick to the other three Schools.

Mountain Cudgel Gi has incredible attack power. However, its skills are far more situational than the Ancient Spirit or the Serpent Fang. However, Dazing (-10% BtH) and Stunning have incredible strategical use that cannot be denied.

Ancient Spirit Gi offers a more balanced approach like the Serpent Fang Gi but the bonuses for its attacks come from INT rather than STR so it’s an attacking class that Mage-Leaning Hybrids can use. Its defences are also to be credited, beating Serpent Fang in terms of Elemental Modifiers, but losing in terms of Combat Defences.

Tier 3

Tier 3 classes are the most powerful, intended for use between Lv70 and Lv90. Unfortunately there are only three at the moment but more are being planned for the future so keep your eyes peeled!

Paladin –> Holy Armour, Golden Holy Armour A very powerful armour against any undead enemy you come across, and decently powerful against everything else. Bless Weapon is a basic skill that offers slightly increased damage but a huge increase in accuracy. Summon Steed is a decent powerful attack for relatively little MP. Lay on Hands requires a long charge time but it can be kept and used at any time to restore your HP and MP to full during battle. Holy Light and Holy Might are the really damaging abilities, doing great light damage against normal enemies and amazing light damage against Undead enemies. Holy Might, in particularly, deals the highest damage among all the Builds, due to its stat bonus being taken from Strength AND Intelligence. Hybrids really get the best of both worlds here!

Necromancer –> Necromancer Cloak, Obsidian Cloak Necromancer has a number of particularly damaging abilities. Undead Giant deals 5 times normal damage for a measly 30 MP. Undead Mutant, though much more costly in terms of MP, has an incredible 10x multiplier. Other useful abilities include Fear (Decreasing opponent’s Combat Defences) and Skull Swarm (Great Darkness damage at low MP cost.)

Assassin –> Whispering Raiment Assassin is one of the most popular classes being used…since it is the newest and having many useful abilities. First is its Dual Wield ability which can be devastating when your class level is maxed providing you with bonus damage with a cheap SP Cost. Yajuu Dageki allows you to free up your void spell since it deals Harm damage, paired with Dual Wield it can be devastating although it is successful only 40% of the time. Death From Above requires charging up bolts, but it’s incredibly powerful, particularly the Rain of Disaster which can inflict Prismatic Burn to the opponent, which deals enormous amounts of passive damage.

Zetsubou Dageki which can also deal Harm damage this is more sure shot than Yajuu Dageki although the SP Cost is high, and you have to wait three turns. However, once you inflict the status, you just have to survive those three turns to inflict a powerful Harm hit! The Finishing Blow has four abilities, and they’re all fun to use, however, you’ll find the most use in Stalwart Solitude and Assassin’s Creed. Stalwart Solitude is a buffed up Dragon’s Double, providing an amazing counterattack. Assassin’s Creed is usually used for a gamble or a quick and easy kill. It’s success rate is pretty low, depending on the monster, but it’s a good skill for quick farming.

Choosing your Mastercraft! (Uber)

[UHG302] Mastercraft equipment are defined as Equipment which have certain special abilities and do NOT take any penalty to their stats for them. However, their prices are incredibly high. With this definition, only a few sets exist, however, any “Set” will be listed here. Uber Sets are no longer what they used to be. With the release of new armours that follow a new set of standards, nearly all of our “Ubers” fall behind in terms of damage. While they’re not what they used to be, their explanations stay, partially because I’m still an Uber fan, and apparently, it’s helpful to the community. All the items listed here have lower level versions, I’m just going to list the highest in existence, and for them to make the list, they must have a Full Set Bonus. (FSB) Eventually, most Ubers will be converted to Mastercraft sets, and once all of them have been Swept, the word “Uber” will disappear into forgetfulness… All the sets listed here will be of their highest level possible. For new Mastercrafts, most of them will be level 135, for older Armours, mostly will be either 85, or 120.

Golden PlateGolden Shield and Golden Axe to activate Full Set Bonus. This is the most defensive armour of the bunch, with 55% to all resistances, 50 melee and magic defence and 45 ranged defence. The downside is that it’s attack power is quite low. Spellcasters will get the most out of this armour, being able to sit behind amazing defences while blasting with spells. If you find that spells are what you use the most then consider this as your first Uber armour. Warrior-leaning Hybrids should not so casually dismiss this set either. With the full set, the special attack of the Golden Axe heals you by 50% of the damage done. The damage done by the Golden Axe should not be underestimated, being able to heal you relatively reliably for 100HP for every time the special occurs. Not really recommended now, since there are other armours that defend against everything else better.

Nemesis’ Testament (Swept as of 03/03/11, Mastercraft.)Nemesis’ Bastion and Nemesis’ Condemnation to activate Full Set Bonus. The second “Uber” set released was given a huge update on 03/03/11. In the past, it was among the weakest and most useless of the Uber Sets, now, it has gotten its power increased to match powerhouses such as Chimeran. It’s Ice and Darkness defences are currently top notch. It is a completely neutral armour, and as such, has lower power than the Virulent Chimeran, which is a little sad. However, its defences do not suffer as Chimeran does. As an MC Bonus, it gets Backlash, able to deflect 12% of the damage done to your back onto your enemy. It’s Shield now specialises in Ice and Darkness (secondary) defence, giving an amazing -24% to Ice. AND yet another MC bonus, being able to reduce damage by 25% up to 97 points of damage at an average 20% of the time. Its Full Set Bonus buffs all your attacks to 200%, dealing Void damage 12% of the time. This is great, considering that all monsters have a maximum resistance of 200%, and you’ll rarely see that 200% anyway. The Nemesis Mace doesn’t concern us much, because its a Magic Weapon. Either way, as a top level armour and shield, this will definitely find a spot in your inventory, as you’ll see later on.

Reign PlateReign Defender and Reignbringer to activate Full Set Bonus. This used to be the most powerful attacking Uber armour, offering the highest damage with weapons over all the other Ubers. The downside is it sacrifices a good amount of defence for it. It has good melee defence and average range and magic defences and it’s resistances are all 90% except for fire, light and energy. A great armour for people who prefer weapon attacks over everything else, but it needs to be used with caution, otherwise you’ll find yourself lacking health pretty quickly. With the full set, if four hits of the Reignbringer’s special attack don’t miss then a powerful 5th hit is added to the special attack. With Magic Weapons being lower in power than their Melee/Ranged counterparts, Reign has become slightly obsolete. A combination of Boreal Bolt, Chimeran and Nova Knight has also kicked Reign out of the running.

Shadow CloakShadowbones and Shadowspear to activate Full Set Bonus. The second most defensive of the uber armours, the Shadow Cloak has superb resistances, great defence against melee and ranged attacks. It is not as defensive as the Golden Plate, however, it has greater attack power so it’s best suited for the Hybrid, who will want a good mix of defence to cast spells from, and offence to hack away with weapons with an (now-not so) incredible 400% Base, 350% Random and 200% Stats. Do note its 80% to Light, though. That may be somewhat a problem against certain enemies, but all in all, the Shadow Cloak is among the top choices for a first Uber for a Hybrid to obtain. With the full set, if both hits of the Shadowspear’s special attack don’t miss (and the enemy is not a darkness enemy) then a third hit is added and it reduces your opponents Combat defences as well. Nerfing is a very valuable ability, so keep it active from the 90s-100s or so. It has among the best Darkness defence in the game, but it is truly lacking in offence if compared to new additions such as Dracopyre of Night.

Asgardian PlateAsgardian Shield and Mjollnir to activate Full Set Bonus. The Asgardian Plate has an excellent mix of powerful offence and defence. Fully unlocked, 500% Base/Random with 300% Stats makes this armour a powerhouse. It’s no slouch in defences, either, giving us a respectable 60% in four elements with 70s in the other four. It’s Ranged combat defence holds at an incredible 55, although the Magic at 38 is a bit of a letdown. It’s Melee is average at 42. Either way, it’s a must-have armour for Hybrids. Regardless of whether you have DEX or not. Similarly to the Full Set Bonus of Valhallan, Mjollnir can paralyse for 1 or 2 turns (Provided you make the save, of course.) Once again, it’s offence is lacking in comparison. Still useful for Paralysis, though.

Fujin PlateFujin Shield and Tonbo-giri to activate Full Set Bonus. Our second epic armour. Like the Asgardian set, this is the natural upgrade to the Vayu Set. Its abilities to note are amazing blocking and accuracy coupled with swift attacks that leave Asgardian in the dust. The main thing about Fujin is that it offers incredible defences, of which some defend much better than full Golden Plate. Fujin also has an higher than normal accuracy, which is why its attack is slightly weaker than even Shadow Cloak. Fujin’s FSB causes its special to deal double damage 2% of the time (Overall). Fujin Plate has accuracy, but you rarely need THAT much elemental defence at level 100. Boreal Bolt can cover this, along with a couple of other elements.

Shooting Circus Ubear Form (Not Mastercraft.)Huge Box of Peanuts and Cotton Candy Spear to activate Full Set Bonus. The third “Epic” level armour released was a bit of a disappointment. It’s offence was only marginally more powerful than Reign and yet weaker than Asgardian in most weapons. It’s defences, with exception of Fire, weren’t too good either. Right now, Asgardian offers better Energy defence, while Nova Knight beats this in Fire defence. It does have an FSB, which is the ability to reduce the damage Water type monsters. Using Fire on Water type monsters is okay, but to have to equip the Huge Box of Peanuts to get it… Sheesh. Anyways, just get Nova Knight.

Kindred’s ValianceKindred’s Prestige and Kindred’s Devotion to activate Full Set Bonus. Essentially a powered up version of Paragon’s Dignity, this armour deals a whopping 525% Base/Random/Stat at 20% BtH, beating out Shooting Circus Ubear Form. Similarly to Paragon’s Dignity, you can choose to Focus, regenerating some health and gaining Focus status. Once you charge it up to Five, on your sixth attack, you can release a 6.5x (Approximate) boost in damage for -10% BtH. Accuracy is an important factor here, so use Focus wisely. It has great Water and Wind defences, and is very average in the other Elemental Modifiers, at 86% each. It’s got pretty decent Combat defences, though, at 40 for Melee, 45 for Ranged and 50 for Magic. With the full set, you gain +10 on your roll for Initiative, which will give you a head start in Focus. This is definitely an armour worth picking up. Despite having a rather impressive Full Set Bonus (Effectively giving you a bonus 1.5x boost compared to a full 5 Turn focus.) Its rather mediocre defences are something to watch out for. I cannot think of a situation where a Wind or Water monster could possibly be weak to a Water-type attack. The Full Set Bonus is unlikely to ever be used against any monster. Do note, also that Asgardian Plate attacking over six turns is 3000% Base/Random and 1800% Stat at 23% BtH. 5 Focus Kindred deals 3410% Base/Random/Stat but at a rather low 10% BtH. Focus is something that should only be used against low MOBs. At high levels, such a huge difference of 13% BtH will definitely be missed (Especially since you’re attacking only once every six turns), despite the rather huge damage difference.

Terror RaimentTerror Eater, Terror Totem, Terror Visage to activate Full Set Bonus. At a costly 7450 Z-Tokens for EACH piece of equipment, the Terror Raiment is an incredible piece of armour that everyone should attempt to pick up. It averages at 516% Base/Random/Stat at 17 BtH, giving up a tiny bit of accuracy for more power as compared to Asgardian Plate. Its defences are just SLIGHTLY better than Kindred’s Valiance, although you’ll definitely want to avoid Light Monsters when using this armour, at a costly 93% to Light. Its combat defences, however, actually work out better than Kindred’s, with Melee and Magic, two of the most common attacking types at a high 50, with Ranged at a respectable 40. What you’ll really want to look at is its SP ability Fear. It deals a whopping 877.2% Base/Random/Stat at 17% BtH for 306 SP. Considering how powerful that blow is, and the relatively cheapness of its SP cost, the Fear effect is all too worth it. Without the full set, it’ll be the standard Darkness Dragon’s Fear, affecting the target for 4 Turns, with 25% to not attack per turn. In full set, however, the chance of not acting increases to 45% and lasts for FIVE turns! Despite having defences which aren’t really much to speak of, it does have the combat defence necessary to pull off a Fear effect. The Pet, Terror Arañacabra can take advantage of the Fear to bring its raw base BtH to a grand total of +32, a very impressive number, as Pets go. Taking full advantage of this Fear status, Totem also gains a nice effect of penalising all enemy attacks by a -4% BtH. The Terror Raiment, because of its incredible Fear effect (Even without the FSB) should be obtained as the first piece of Terror equipment because of its incredible Fear effect, along with impressive offensive power…. At that point in time. Currently, Nemesis does a better job of darkness defence.

Nova Knight Plate (Not Mastercraft. Interim-sweep offence standard on release.)Nova Knight Falchion, Nova Knight Aegis and Nova Knight Great Helm to activate Full Set Bonus. A Interim-sweep set, it isn’t fully Swept, but it’ll do for the purposes of our defences. Nova Knight has one of the best Fire and Earth (Earth beating Virulent Chimeran) defences in the game, standing at 27% with Armour and Shield equipped. It’s offence is better than a pre-sweep set, but can’t even be compared with Swept Nemesis so let’s not even bother with Chimeran. However, as a full set Bonus, Burn is something that cannot be overlooked. It can affect a wide variety of monsters, and you won’t be using the Falchion against a Fire monster anyway. The Great Helm is very useful defence wise, and for a Hybrid, that 35 Strength can only help. This is an awesome armour for Fire defence that you won’t want to miss.

Virulent Chimeran Champion (Mastercraft. Post-sweep standards upon release.)Chimeran Champion Shield and Virulent Chimeran Spear to activate Full Set Bonus. Chimeran’s full Set doesn’t really have any special bonuses, but it IS part of a set… Regardless, this whole set revolves around one thing, Poison. Hybrids, you get to inflict Poison really easily because you can cast the awesome Exploding Poison Arrow compared to your Warrior counterparts, who have to deplete their SP. However, you can save all that SP to use it’s awesome Fire Breath, doubling your damage output. When the enemy is poisoned, the Spear has the ability to attempt to paralyse the enemy whenever its special is unleashed. That means that you attempt to paralyse your opponent 20% of the time after he’s poisoned! Isn’t that awesome? The Shield offers the best Earth defence at -24% and also gives you Poison resistance. Besides all its nifty effects, Chimeran is semi offensive… that’s right, boys and girls. Chimeran is a powerhouse in terms of offence. Despite being PLevel 120, it still beats the Plevel 135 Nemesis’ Testament in terms of power. However, it does give up some defence for it. It’s Earth defence is great, at 48%, but the rest of its defences are a bit crappy. Still that offence is worth paying some defence for.

Blazing Solaris Plate (Mastercraft to Guardians only. Adventurers do NOT get the Mastercraft Bonus. Post sweep standards upon release.)Blazing Solaris Blade, Blazing Solaris Shield to activate Full Set Bonus. This set has a PLevel of 130, but it’s Mastercraft effects are available only to Guardians. As of 26/05/2011 saw the release of the first FULLY OFFENSIVE ARMOUR. This armour is it. Only defending well against Light, this armour sacrifices nearly all of its defence. However, it’s combat defences are strong, and it’s attack is just obscene, just what we expect from a fully offensive armour. Adventurers get this obscene power, but Guardians get one better: Solar Call, a Light skill which doubles your overall damage output for a measly 104 SP per turn. At level 130, you’re effectively only using 70+ SP per turn, which takes a while to whittle down your SP pool. The Shield provides -25% to Light, and decent combat defences. Guardians regenerate 7-45 HP per turn when this is equipped. The Solaris Blade is a Magic Weapon, and that stops Hybrids from picking it up, but Guardians get a 7/6 boost to Special that occurs 20% of the time. When all three are equipped, normal attacks and specials deal 110% damage (Yes, this is in addition to the 7/6 boost to Special that Guardians already have.) and the Solar Call deals 105% damage.

[UHG303]

Guardian No-Drops

There are a total of three sets of Guardian no-drop Armours. There’s the Armour of Awe, the Guardian Armours, and the UltraGuardian Armours. As mentioned above, your Weapons of Awe take their element based on which Specialisation your Armour is. So, your armour defence determines what weapons to buy or not to buy.

For the specialisation, I really recommend Wind. If you’re familiar with AQ, you’ll probably be asking why. Why use that when Boreal covers wind exceptionally well? Why not Water or Energy, that Asgardian/Boreal attempts to cover, but can’t do well? Firstly, Water monsters aren’t particularly strong. The strongest you’ll probably find is a Rayfish, or the Ancient Malgru, which both can be taken out by spells and Asgardian/Boreal. Hang on, doesn’t specialising in Wind make Boreal useless? Yes, it does. Boreal specialises in Wind defence, and Asgardian can still hold Energy and Water monsters decently, with proper Shields and Misc items, in Boreal’s case, it’s 5%, which means that you’re taking about 1/6 more damage if you choose Boreal over Asgardian. Asgardian definitely has a weaker attack, but between your spells and a few attacks there’s not much you can’t handle. We really don’t have many options here, and to me, this is the least of the evils.

Fire is also a decent choice. Nova Knight Plate covers Fire, but it’s an interim-sweep armour, which means that it’s offence just isn’t as awesome.

Either way, although I recommend Wind or Fire as your specialisation, the Guide to armours below offers armours to cover all elements regardless of what specialisation your No-Drop is.

[UHG303a]

Armour of Awe

Depending on how quickly you can get the Blade of Awe, you can quickly grab the Armour of Awe. It’s a semi-defensive armour, so you’ll never be able to have the damage output you’d otherwise have by using stuff like even Nemesis of the same level. There are three different versions of the Awe armour. Still, if you have the Shield, Armour and your Weapon of Awe equipped, you automatically make an attempt every turn to make it Afraid. If it’s specialised, the chance of your opponent not acting is 23.8%, compared to a 16.7% otherwise. Their elemental defences are all exactly the same (Within the same specialisation.) with the only difference being combat defences, which isn’t a big difference either. Their main difference comes in the ability that each one has.

Insightful Armour of Awe: Regenerates 4% mana of a standard spell of that level per turn. Which brings us to… 21 MP per turn at level 135. This is… really quite pathetic. Well, perhaps, if you combine it with the Fairy Godmother, you’ll probably be able to get an average of about an average of 45 MP per turn… If you’re casting a PLevel 135 spell, you only get four casts, you’ll have to start regenerating from scratch… Not too good.

Deft Armour of Awe: If you block the final hit of the monster’s attack, you regenerate a HUGE amount of Health. Sounds awesome? Yeah, it is… For a build with both Luck and Dexterity. A Hybrid isn’t that. We can’t block nearly as well as Pure Builds, so we’re banking on Elemental defence to get us out of trouble.

Mighty Armour of Awe: This version regenerates a bit of health every turn. This is probably the best for a Hybrid… Because of elimination. Since Insightful is near-useless, and Deft can’t be used by Hybrids, we’re stuck with the last one. It isn’t too bad, everything considered, overall, you regenerate 30 HP per turn on average, with the help of the Fairy Godmother, you’ll be getting around 50HP per turn. This really isn’t too bad at all.

[UHG303b]

Guardian Armours

The Guardian Armours have completely no lean. They’re balanced both defensively and offensively. You need to have the Guardian Shield, any of the below armours, and any of the Guardian weapons to activate their FSB. Considering that they have no special abilities outside of their full Set bonuses, the standard Guardian Items are not really recommended.

Guardian Plate: A completely standard armour. With the FSB, your Melee attacks gain an incredible +8 BtH. Use with the Guardian Blade, or Dagger.

Guardian Leathers: A accurate leaning armour. As with the same logic as Hybrids favouring accurate weapons, a Hybrid would also favour accurate Armours. It’s FSB is to buff Ranged attacks to 110%. Of course, use with Guardian Spear.

Guardian Robes: You deal only 95% of a standard armour, however, 20% of the time, you heal some MP when you cast a spell, and 10% of the time, you deal 1.35x normal damage. It’s FSB adds 8 BtH to your Spells, an impressive numer, and buffs up your Magic attacks to 110%. Use it with the Guardian Staff.

Savant’s Robes: You deal 100% damage in one hit, following your weapon. It’s FSB buffs your attacks and spells by 3%, and they all gain +3 to their BtH.

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UltraGuardian Armours

All the UltraGuardian armours are semi-offensive. They sacrifice a tiny bit of defence for an increase in attack power. Most notably is a 4% difference in a specialised element compared to the Armour of Awe. Furthermore, all the Mastercraft bonuses that they get are all offensive in one way or another.

Insightful UltraGuardian: You deal damage equal to 96% of a standard attack of your level. However, you get a boost to your spells 20% of the time to deal 125% damage. Also, if you’re using a Magic Weapon, 20% of the time, your attack will heal your MP for 57% of the damage dealt. You shouldn’t be using Magic weapons anyway, so this Mastercraft bonus is pretty much wasted on Hybrids.

Mighty UltraGuardian: Choose the Mighty UltraGuardian if the weapon that opposes your specialisation is a Melee weapon. (For example, if your specialisation is Ice, and your Fire weapon is the Nova Knight Falchion, use the Mighty UltraGuardian because most of the time, Ice monsters, which you should be using this armour, are weak to Fire.) 80% of the time, you deal 93.75% of damage. The other 20% of the time, you’re dealing 175% damage, as long as you’re using a Melee weapon. Overall, with a Melee weapon, you deal 110% of a normal attack. This is should be your top choice.

Deft UltraGuardian: It has an accurate lean of +3 BtH. However, you should only choose the Deft UltraGuardian if the weapon that opposes your specialisation is a Ranged Weapon. For this reason, only DEX Hybrids need look at this Armour. As long as you’re using a Ranged Weapon, 20% of the time, when the rare attack occurs, you attempt to paralyse your enemy. The roll is mainly against your DEX. The Deft UltraGuardian is for Hybrids who want some special ability over the raw damage of the Mighty version. However, the +3 BtH accurate lean can only help the accuracy defecient Hybrids.

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Armours by Level.

Low Levels – Up to L50 Your No-Drop is a respectable armour, in it’s own right now, so you can make do with it. While you should be training Fighter, Scholar and Rogue up, the only Class Armour worth keeping in your inventory at this time is Mage Robes. Just being in it at class level 10, and with your Title as Mage, you get a free +5% BtH. Besides that, there are other powerful Metamagics that the Mage Class offers you, such as Empower.

Guardians, you probably want to pick up the Mighty Armour of Awe or Mighty UltraGuardian once you complete either of the quests. This early in the game, you might want to stick to something that hits harder, so I’d recommend you stick to the UltraGuardian variants. Also, try to Elementalise it as quickly as possible. The 12k gold is expensive in early levels, but it basically means that you won’t have to buy an armour, weapon or shield to cover that particular defence for the rest of your AQ life. Doesn’t that sound awesome? It definitely is, so make that alignment as quickly as possible.

Regardless, for Adventurers, Nightbane’s Form is an option, offering you good Earth and Darkness defences. Guardians have an alternate, slightly better option, being Werepyre, however, it requires your subrace to be Werepyre to be effective. You do not get any disadvantage from becoming a Werepyre, and you’ll need the Werepyre Subrace eventually. Either of these two armours cover Darkness and Earth well.

Your next Class Armours for weapon offence come at level 30. Firstly, there’s the Dragonslayer, which offers decent offence against Non-Dragons (220% BRS.) as well as some very nice tricks against Dragons. Also at level 30, there’s the Shinobi Shozoku, the Ninja Class armour. It’s the strongest among the Class armours in terms of offence, holding at 261%BRS at Class level 10, it also has respectable accuracy at 13% BtH. It’s abilities are all focused on raw power, and this will definitely become a primary attack armour. The last of these class armours is the Generalist Robes. Once you level it up, it gives a 140% BRS boost to all your spells just by sitting in it to cast spells. Also important are the MP-costing Guests that provide an additional source of damage. They’re quite strong, and will definitely help in the early game. For Guardians only, Dharna allows you to regenerate 257 MP with each cast, at a measly 20SP, allowing you to sustain your Elementals for as long as necessary.

For the last of the early armours, the Noxious Chimeran Squire is slightly stronger than a fully developed Shinobi Shozoku by 200% worth of Stat damage. Considering how low your Strength is right now, that 200% probably won’t make a difference. It IS pretty expensive, however, so if you’re short on gold, you might not want to pick up the Chimeran Squire.

Out of all those armours that you bought early, only Generalist Robes will make it past level 60. A spell boost of 40% BRS is a very significant amount, not forgetting the minor 95% efficiency that you get. Dharna also ensures MP to cast your spells, at a very, VERY minor SP Cost.

In the 60s, you’re going to want to choose a main attacking armour. Yes, UltraGuardian is a great choice. But you’re going to need more than that. Adventurers, your only option is the Baneful Chimeran Outrider. This semi-offensive armour is specialised in defence against Earth, and provides a decent secondary defence in Light.

Dracopyre of Night. This armour increases its power based on your Subrace level. It’s a lot easier training if you have Luck. However, the SP Saves help you somewhat, and training the Dracopyre Subrace is excellent farming anyway. As long as you have a Light Weapon suitable for your level, and the Dracopyre of Night, training the subrace is a piece of cake. Dracopyre of Night scales up as you level up your Subrace. It start out at PLevel 70 armours, but once you hit class level 10, they’ll end up as PLevel 90 armours. Consider this long-lasting use before you scoff at the slightly expensive price tag. I really don’t recommend Graceful Dracopyre because its resistances just aren’t useful enough due to a huge overlap in defences. Earth is already covered by Chimeran, and Energy by Boreal Bolt or Salvation Armour. (Later on.)

Finally, another Class Armour actually worth using. The Whispering Raiment is the Assassin Class armour, requiring Ninja, Rogue and Scholar to train. It offers a couple of incredibly damaging moves, and most notably, non-Elemental Damage. Among the most damaging is the Rain of Disaster, an ability that offers octa-elemental passive damage and Zetsubou Dageki, a delayed-effect Harm attack. Also, once the class is maxed, it offers 66% against Water, Earth and Wind, actually trumping Boreal in terms of Water defence.

That’s right, Boreal Bolt Plate(75) offers the best Wind defence and somewhat decent , Water, Ice and Energy defences. Its offence is slightly subpar, however. (This is why I recommend aligning your AoA/UG to Wind, Guardians. Ice and Energy are covered by other stuff.) Also at level 75, you get an upgrade into the Venomous Chimeran Knight, a direct upgrade in the form of more damage and better resistance in its three defences.

By now, you should be sensing a kind of a pattern here. You should be holding around two Class armours for their usefulness, namely, the Whispering Raiment and Generalist’s Robe. These two Classes offer incredibly useful abilities throughout your AQ life. The next is that you’ve been upgrading different forms of Chimeran so far, and obviously, other Armours will have higher level versions. Also, this is the point where your Alignment really begins to influence what armour decisions you’ll be making. As mentioned above, Fire and Wind are the two most practical options since we lack a fully Post-Sweep armour that defends against Fire or Wind.

Your next option comes in the form of one of the old Uber Plates. The Valhallan Plate is still very usable, and a viable alternative to Boreal Bolt Plate. Valhallan Plate offers great defences of 60% apiece to Ice, Water, Wind and Energy while the Level 90 Guardian Boreal Bolt Plate has 55% to Wind, and 69% to Water, Energy and Ice. Water resistance shouldn’t be an issue, if you’ve training your Assassin Class, so it’s down to how much you value your Wind defence. Adventurers should most definitely get the Valhallan Plate as an upgrade. It costs 500, 000 gold pieces, which is a bit pricey, however, it’s sellback is at 450,000! This means you only lose 50,000 gold once you sell it off. Guardians, if your no-Drop is NOT Wind, you might consider the Boreal Bolt. However, my personal preference is for the Valhallan Plate. However, Guardians, if your no-drop is Wind aligned, you don’t even need to bother with this decision. If your no-drop covers Wind, and Assassin covers Water, you can pick up this awesome armour…

Salvation Armour G IV offers splendid Energy and Fire defence for its level. It is also a fully swept armour, meaning higher offence than the Interim-level Boreal Bolt, who’s lacklustre offence is a real pain. It also offers the Corrupted Blast, a Darkness skill that does a tremendous amount of damage, at the cost of tremendous amount of SP. To a certain extent, this armour solves the lack of a Fire defence Swept armour, but it’s defence just isn’t enough at higher levels. Of course, Since Salvation is mainly used for Energy defence, don’t pick this up if you’re Energy Aligned.

At level 90, there’s an optional upgrade to Dracopyre. Vigilante’s Creed is of the same PLevel as Dracopyre. Offensively, they’re on the same standards, but Vigilante’s Creed has better stability because of its 4-hit Attack. Ice monsters aren’t common, and the best farming spots all have Darkness monsters, not Ice. It’s not worth the upgrade, in my opinion, but for those people who want to cover Ice really badly, this is an optional upgrade. The third of your upgrades at level 90 is the Poisonous Chimeran Defender. As mentioned earlier in other Chimeran commentary, Chimeran is great with Earth, and decent with Light.

For Adventurers, the Interim standard Nova Knight Light Plate at level 100 will have to do as your Fire defence. It’s Fire defence is great, believe me, beating out Salvation Armour G IV by 8%. However, offensively, it’s lacking as it’s based on Interim standards. You’ve got to make do, Adventurers. Guardians, if you feel that Salvation isn’t covering your Fire needs, you can pick Nova up in addition to Salvation.

Valhallan Plate or Guardian Boreal Bolt Plate (Guardians, neither is necessary if your Alignment is Wind. Any other alignment should pick one of the two, with Valhallan being strongly recommended over Boreal Bolt.)

Level 100 – 120 This is where things are going to get fun. You have quite a number of high level armours to cover your defences with. Guardians, if you didn’t think that your Elemental Alignment determined your armour choices, it definitely will influence your armour choices now.

As usual, to start off, we have our two Class Armours. Generalist’s Robe is a staple of all Hybrid characters, since Arcane Potence offers a substantial buff to our otherwise not-as-awesome-as-Pure-Mage-Spells. However, at these levels, you might want to consider storing Whispering Raiment and picking up one of the other eight Specialised Robes. Currently, farming spots above level 100 include Attack Lucian in Paxia Defence (Tenebromancer recommended.) or Dracolich Femurs in Spellcraft, Warlic’s Shop. (Lumenomancer recommended.) Pick up any of the Specialist Robes that helps you in farming a spot of your choice.

For Guardians, Salvation Armour G IV stays for its great Energy and Fire defences. When supplemented with Reign Defender and one of the Drako helms, you end up with a respectable 38% to Fire, and 25% to Energy.

Both of your non-optional armour upgrades comes at level 105. Toxic Chimeran Cavalier is an upgrade from your old Poisonous Defender. Like before, it covers Earth and Light pretty well, and still hits hard. All in all, a staple armour. Scourge’s Tenet covers Ice and Darkness really well, easily replacing Vigilante’s Creed or the Dracopyre of Night, the latter which has lasted you for the past 25 levels. You really got your money’s worth from that. The Boss might be a little hard, but Wind-Aligned Guardians (Wind and Ice are closely related on the Wheel.) won’t have too much of a problem with him.

A choice comes for Adventurers and non-Wind-Aligned Guardians at level 105. It’s basically the same choice, making you choose whether you should upgrade to another Boreal Bolt Plate, or keep the Valhallan Plate. This time, the Wind defence is down to 51%, and the others at 67% for Boreal, while Valhallan is still holding at 60% to everything. Their offence is also quite similar, once you factor in Valhallan’s awesome accuracy. Once again, this is up to personal preference. And for an old player like me, Valhallan carries more respect and weight with it. :D

From a Guardian’s point of view, however, Ice monsters are held at bay with Scourge’s Tenet, so that is moot. Guardians who have Salvation Armour won’t need to consider Energy Defence, which Salvation holds at 55%, bringing the debate down to Water and Wind. There aren’t many strong Water monsters, and besides, if you’re carrying Whispering Raiment, that is yet another moot point. It’s down to Wind… If you’re Wind Aligned, this is something you don’t even need to bother with. Guardians who are Fire Aligned might want to consider Boreal Bolt over Valhallan in this case.

The most interesting competition will be between the AntiGuardian Plate(105) and the Radiant Solaris Plate (110). Let’s face it, people, even though Chimeran does have some decent Light defence, it isn’t THAT good. The Radiant Solaris Plate deals with this problem very effectively, giving you the best Light defence of your level once and for all. It is also a Fully Offensive armour, meaning that its offence is better than a Standard armour of its level by 25%. It also boasts the Solar Call ability, a powerful skill that does Light damage. However, a problem with it is that it’s vastly unreliable in terms of damage. Its normal attack is 1 hit that occurs 80% of the time, and 20% of the time, it executes a powerful 3 hit attack. This makes the variation of its damage freakishly huge. However, it is PLevel 110, and it’s specialised defences make it ideal for farming Light monsters.

AntiGuardian, on the other hand, is slightly weaker (5 Levels lower.) But its defences are on more practical elements, such as Earth and Darkness. It also has a far more reliable attack, a 2 hit attack which does full damage. Also, it has the Darkbolt, which has a freakishly cheap SP cost, due to its resistances not complementing with the Skill’s Element. At levels 100 and above, most farming areas are chock full of Darkness monsters, and having an Offensive Darkness armour can definitely help in farming those areas. The Darkbolt can even help in farming Lucian.

These two are bonus armours that you can pick up if you’ve got some extra gold. Radiant Solaris Plate helps to farm “Attack Lucian”, pairing up with Tenebromancer for a Darkness Spell boost. AntiGuardian helps with Dracolich Femurs, or even Nightreign, once you’ve exhausted your MP from either Dragonbane Blast in Generalist, or Light spells launched from Lumenomancer. These two armours are optional armours that help in farming.

Whether you bought one, both, or none of the above optional “Farmer” fully-offensive armours, that’ll be your last purchase until you hit Level 120. If you’ve been farming at some decent spots, between your Weapons, Spells and Shields, you still should be able to afford some upgrades at level 120. Honestly speaking, there are only two or three completely essential upgrades at level 120.

Boreal Bolt(120) and Asgardian Plate are once again in competition. As mentioned before, Adventurers should go with Asgardian for better all-round defence since they don’t have Salvation G IV to take Energy hits. Guardians will sacrifice a bit of Water defence to take Wind hits a lot better in Boreal, however, if you’re Wind-Aligned, this is a completely moot point.

Valhallan Plate or Boreal Bolt Plate (Guardians, neither is necessary if your Alignment is Wind. Any other alignment should pick up Boreal Bolt, as the Wind defence is the main point of contention now. Adventurers might stick with Valhallan Plate for more well-rounded defences against Wind and Energy.) Upgrade appropriately to Boreal Bolt(120) or Asgardian Plate

Top Levels – L121+

As usual, our first two slots are always given to our Class armours. Generalist Robes is the standard, along with one of the Specialist Robes. Whispering Raiment is losing its use at incredibly high levels, and should be kept in storage, although it’s still an alternative to the Specialist Robes. Adventurers need to upgrade whatever they can, their only remaining options being Nova Knight Plate (130) and the Blazing Solaris Plate (130). Nova Knight covers Fire and Earth very well, while the Blazing Solaris Plate specialises in Light defence, which you’ll probably find really useful against high level Light Monsters.

Guardians can obtain the Nemesis’ Testament, the Level 135 upgrade of the Nemesis set. Adventurers have to stop at 120 with Castigator’s Doctrine.

For both Guardians and Adventurers, do note that Asgardian and Boreal don’t really do their jobs at defence well. They’re offence also sucks, but that’s another point entirely. As mentioned before, Adventurers should pick up Asgardian because it is more well-rounded (60% to Energy, Wind and Water), but Boreal has a Wind specialisation (47% to Wind, 65 to Energy and Water.) We don’t consider Fujin because a Hybrid needs to find a balance between power and defence, and Fujin is too far down on the offence. With these holes, things get slightly problematic. Reign Defender and Kindred’s Devotion can help to cover these weaknesses, but you’ll never get the ~20% resistance you could possibly get otherwise. So, watch out for these two resistances. If you feel that the Wind specialisation of Boreal is worth your 5% more to your Energy defence, go with Boreal. I personally like Asgardian, but that’s an opinion of mine.

Finally, immensely worthy of note are the Token armours, the Salvation Armours. There are two Z versions, one at 110, the other at 130. Combined with the Reign Defender and the Helm of the Drako brothers, you have very impressive defences to Fire and Energy. Nemesis’ Testament provides Ice and Darkness defence, and when combined with either the Nemesis’ Bastion or Ghost Knight, offer the best Ice and Darkness defences. Boreal offers fantastic Wind defence, but you have to give up some offence. Virulent Chimeran Champion provides Earth and Light defence. Buff that up with either Chimeran Champion Shield for Earth and Blazing Solaris Shield for Light. 34% to Light isn’t that good at level 136, so you might want to use a Misc to help you out, if you want the best Light defence, though, Blazing Solaris Plate is the way to go. With this armour setup, you have all your defences except Water well covered, and there aren’t many strong Water monsters anyway. Between Kindred’s Devotion and Asgardian Plate / Boreal, you’ll hold your own against Ancient Malgrus.

Below, I’ll list the recommended setups. Guardians, since your main options for Elementalising your no-Drops are Fire and Wind, I’ll work with these two Elements.

Everyone has two hands, since you’re holding a weapon in one, obviously, you’d be holding a Shield in another -_-” Shields are primarily defensive, although there are a few offensive shields around here and there. They are essential to gameplay, providing great defences and abilities. Lately, the trend has shifted to having better elemental defences over combat defences, so I’ll usually pick the shield with better defences, barring any special abilities.

The Lv25 the Glave Shield is an essential purchase for all-round type coverage. These two can serve you for a long time. For killing off those undead, then the Ultimus Shield is a perfect choice. Despite costing Z-tokens, it’s very cheap and boasts a large damage trigger as well as decent defences. You can pick up the Lv38 Paladin Shield for its amazing light and darkness defences.

At Lv40 you have the Demonbreaker which defends from Fire, Ice and Darkness. The Aerodu Shield has great earth and water resistances along with Starblaze Shield having amazing fire and light resistances, it defends slightly less against Energy, giving you great coverage.

At Lv50 the Eye of Naab is a shield with a unique effect that every character in AQ should get. Zephyr has great Wind defence beaten only by Ubers. The Dreamcatcher shield is available at Lv50, it has -10 to four elements, and great Magic Defence. At level 60, the Elven Barrier has incredible Earth Defence and a respectable Trigger against Drakel. At Lv65 the Gyrate Shield is a natural upgrade to the Glave shield so get it ASAP.

Beyond that, just follow the list below. Since some shield defences overlap, sell of the shield that covers the least stuff for the incoming shield. Eg: Sell Dreamcatcher for Golden Shield, Starblaze for Reign Defender, Gyrate for Vahallan, and so on.

As a general guideline, this is the Shields route that you should take.

Level 75 Characters

Eye of Naab: The effect is too good to pass down. In essence, it negates a whole turn of damage.

You can’t be a proper Hybrid without Spells! From Levels 1-35 or so, the Elemental Sphere Skill from Mage Robes is more than sufficient to get you through. Only at level 40, do the spells you buy actually begin to show you how WEAK Elemental Sphere was. Below, I have split the Spells section into Guardians and Adventurers for clarity and ease of browsing. I would like everyone to note that currently, older spells use the new stat damage of INT/4, but retain their old stat damage. This means that sometimes, a level 80 spell can have comparable power to a level 90+ spell. (AOV and Clone Shoes IV). As such, please take a look at each encyclopedia entry to take a look at their interim-sweep power. This Guide is for a completely post-sweep spell setup.

Adventurers don’t have much choice, I’m afraid. Cosmic Blaze is cheap and good, and will just barely last you until you pick up Arrows of Virtue or Meteors. Guardians can pick up Inferno at level 57. It’ll last you till level 65, where Fireball Z is a powerful early-game fire spell. At higher levels, there’s a debate about whether Arrows of Virtue (80) or MegaInferno (77) should be used. Under the condition that you are MAXED Good/Unity alignment, use Arrows of Virtue. If you are not, continue using MegaInferno. SRSBBQ at level 100 is just slightly more powerful than Arrows because of the bug in which most old spells get double stat damage. However, SPRSRSBBQ is a clear upgrade. Finally, at 130, the H4XBBQ is available to both Guardians and Adventurers… Barbequed Ice Dragon, anyone?

No disputes here, Undertow should definitely be obtained early on, while Guardians have an additional option of Storm Tide. Aqua Purge is CHEAP and a decently powered Water spell at level 70. Because of that 3k price tag, you might want to skip Undertow or Storm Tide entirely… Aqua Purge will last you all the way to level 80 or 81, where Riptide or Goopy Gumn is available. Riptide provides raw damage, but Goopy Gumn has an incredible Entangle ability. Of course, at level 105, no one can dispute that Everlasting Guardian Gumn is the most powerful Water Spell out there, with a cool Entangle effect.

If you really want a Wind Spell before level 65, look to Dragon’s Wings from Dracomancer Class, or Arrow Assault from Knight Class. Invisible Blast is a decent Wind spell. It’ll last just barely up till level 80, where Brilhado Feathers becomes available. Of 03/12/2010, we finally have a permanent Wind spell! Guardians get the Chalk of Chargin, a six power level advantage over Vortex. At level 120, Deadly Dunce Dust is the final upgrade. Oh, and both Blackboard spells can Blind your enemy!

Cool’Cupuncture is slightly expensive for a level 40 Item, but it’ll last you for a long time, up till level 65. For the Evil inclined among you Malevolent Shadow it the spell to go with. At level 70, the Ice Needles is available at the Wizard’s Games Shop. It’s got great power and accuracy, and will last you all the way until level 85, where the Evil can once again grab Vile Shadow. But I really think you’re far better off sticking with Needles up till level 90, where Ice Nine is available. Then simply upgrade to the Ice Beast Attack, one at level 111, and your final one at 126. Both Adventurer and Guardian paths for Ice are the same.

Earth is not an often used element early on, so there’s little point in picking up an Earth spell up till 50. Adventurers have Earth Rage, while Guardians have the Volatile Poison Arrow at only 8400 gold. Cheap. Adventurers get their next upgrade 2 levels earlier than Guardians. Guardians have the option of Dinozard Chomp as well, but Earth Fury has 6 hits, therefore decreasing the standard deviation in terms of damage, making it more stable. Earth Fury is slightly stronger as well.

Eventually, both upgrade to Dinozard NOMNOMNOM for the lack of other options. Harvest Festival is around every year, so be sure to catch the seasonal rare of Earthrend when possible. At level 120, Exploding Poison Arrow is the best of the lot. This can even bring up a nifty little combo with Chimera’s Fire Breath when the enemy is poisoned. Not to mention, activate the Chimeran Spear’s trigger. Awesome.

BigZapAttack is very cheap, and will do very well as an early-game Energy spell. Guardians should take full advantage of their Guardian Status, and use Shock at level 56, which is far more damaging than their Adventurer Counterpart, which is Blue Lightning at level 60. For Guardians, Megashock can be obtained at level 77 if you’re not using Lightning Rod. Adventurers can’t get the Shock series, so… Purity Portal is woefully inferior to Megashock. At level 88, both Guardians and Adventurers can save up the spell slot, and get a Misc item that offers one of the largest temporary boosts to Intelligence AND a Temporary Spell. Dr Voltabolt’s Lightning (88) can last you until level 103, where another Power Shard is available. Currently, the Kite series loses in stat damage to the Shocking Twig (As I call it.) series, and so Twig’s Ewectwic Zappiness takes top spot for Adventurers, while Guardian Twig’s Ewectwic Boogawoo takes top spot for Guardians.

Early on, Light Blast is relatively cheap and a good replacement for Elemental Sphere. You’d definitely want to pick up Illuminate at level 60. Astral Forge is optional, however, since it’s pretty darn cheap, who are we to complain for a cheap upgrade? Illuminate Ultra is a must-buy, though. If you DO pick up Illuminate Ultra, do NOT pick up Nightbane’s Apotheosis. Overall, Illuminate Ultra’s accuracy is much better, and over time, Illuminate Ultra will out-damage Nightbane’s Apotheosis. Eventually, you’ll want to pick up Fwying Wonder, which is the most damaging Gold Light Spell (Besides, who can resist a flying Moglin?). Of course, if you have the tokens, Supernova is a great choice for 30 levels! (When a sun goes Supernova, it’s usually followed by a Black Hole… Where you see all your hard earnt Z-Tokens falling to.) At the top are Skyblades. Adventurers have to stop at level 120, but Guardians can get a PLevel 138 Spell, the Guardian Skyblade.

The Big Bag o’ Bones is a decent Darkness Spell. You need to check the pedia entry for the most damaging combination, though. Guardian Mayhem Explosion comes at level 59, and the Ninjat Flip Out! is an Optional upgrade available at the Jagged Peaks at level 70 for Guardians. Groglurk Rage is next, Eventually pick up the Groglurk Rage for use for ten levels. Mayhem Beam is level 85 then upgrade to Shadowbat Swarm(90) or obtain the Darksplatter. If you have the Darksplatter, don’t bother with Mayhem Burst at level 96, otherwise, this will last you until level 126, where the Ghost Blast freaks your enemies to death!

The level 20, 40 and 60 Healing Spells are all beaten by Double Potions. (No, not 3 Hour Potions lessons with Professor Slughorn.) Besides, you rarely ever need to heal at those levels. Once you hit level 80, though, the Healing Spell will come in handy.

A source of Void Damage is starting to become important. Up till level 80 or so, you will rarely ever need to use a Void Spell. If you do require one, use Dracomancer’s Great Dragon ability. It attacks 60% of the time, for only 100 Mp. Hybrids shouldn’t have a problem with that. But once the irritating Goldenzards or Elite Zeels begin to appear, you might want to carry around Greater Spellcraft Bacon to get rid of them quickly. At level 100, get Archmage Research III. Lower level versions are not recommended due to the extreme difficulty of the quest, however, if you ARE able to pick up the AMR I or AMR II, kudos to you. But with Whispering Raiment in your Armour-Setup, this Spell is made useless.

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Pets

Despite having 0 CHA. All forms of damage, whether big or small, will count towards your victory. The Sweep is heading in a All-or-Nothing standard for Pets, which means that most pets will either be -66 TD or 134 TD. Those in the middle are neither here nor there, which is bad.

Hybrids won’t have much of a choice. It’s pretty much simply the Reign Phoenix. It’s a clear winner for pure Fire damage due to the 60% BtH. Guardians have the additional option of Ultra Firewere. Ravenous Grabbi, despite its dual element nature, is the highest damage dealer.

The Level 10 Nerfkitten is situationally useful. And will be your option until you begin questing for the Nemesis series from level 105 onwards. The Ice pet at level 105-120 is optional, but as for non-Beastmasters, Pets are LOW on your priority list, so don’t buy the pet until you’ve completely upgraded your equipment.

Friendly Hummingpotamus is the top Water and Wind non-Beastmaster pet, it has a element seeking ability that allows you to double up. However, the and lower denominations should be used at lower levels.

Decently powered for a Non-BM pet. Aerodu, Igneus and Nocturu Clan members should definitely pick this up. If you’re not… Then join them. Clans currently have little effect on you anyway. Your final Wind pet is the Friendly Hummingpotamus, who Element-seeks Water or Wind.

The Flogg is free, and costs you absolutely nothing to get. The Protector Pet at level 35 should NOT be upgraded to the level 70 version. Take note of that. Then at lvl80 get Double Fudge Chunk Brownie. Tofu Koofu is good for you, (And so is Tofu!) Teacher’s Snitch at level 130 rounds off Earth Pets.

Guardians should stick with the Dragonkitten Series and Adventurers with the Hanuboy series until level 84, where the Spirited Hanuboy is the strongest Non-BM Pet around.

DarknessUmbral Bird –> Shadowbird –> Grim Arañacabra (Guardian Only) –> Ravenous Grabbi Early on, Umbral and Shadow Birds have very high BtH which will help a great deal. Ravenous Grabbi, despite only having 18% BtH, has an incredible attack that out-damages Shadow Bird even at 75 Combat defence! But of course, Guardians will want to pick up the Grim Arañacabra. Ravenous Grabbi tops the charts, as usual. Guardians can simply lose out on the energy pet because it’s obviously the weakest link in terms of elements, and pick up Fairy Godmother. It can heal either your HP or your MP and is probably the most useful pet for people without any Charisma. Unfortunately she’s Guardian only.

Early on, the Red Muhrbles are your best bet. Keep upgrading them when you can. Eventually, your goal would be at level 120, where the Lil’ Big Top and Scorpzard takes the top, If you want more raw damage then go get Lil’ Big Top however if you factor in the poison of Scorpzard overtime it will take the lead. Melting Guardian Afterburner is for Guardians only, and has a very nice Burn effect.

IceNerfkitten –> Nerfkitten (50) (Guardian Only) –> Nerfkitten (90) (Guardian Only)/ Ice Rhino Guardians have the very straightforward option. Nerfkitten (10) to 50, then followed by 90. However, I do recommend 100 CHA on the level 50 one, and 160 CHA on the level 90 one, otherwise, they won’t be outdamaging their predecessors. Adventurers don’t have much of a choice but to save for the Rhino.

Water pets have never been particularly useful, but if it bothers you a lot, the lower denominations of Dinozards can be used. The Elder Gweez, however, is the best Adventurer Beastmaster pet, available at level 105. Guardians can do one better, getting the Goldyfish.

WindBlue Muhrble (35) –> Blue Muhrble (70) –> Blue Muhrble (90) Simple, one size fits all… until you upgrade at the appropriate levels, of course. Characters who have the Annually released Vampire Nerfbat will want it in active over Blue Muhrble because of incredibly useful Nerfing ability.

EarthFlogg –> Protector Pet (35) –> Protector Pet (70) –> Rascorpion Iurodeia –> Azamay Marble Golem –> Teacher’s Snitch (130) The level 15 Flogg is essentially free of charge, and is pretty darn powerful, surprisingly. At level 35, you’d want the Protector Pet, if you really think you need an Earth pet. It lasts a good while, though. An upgrade for the Protector comes at level 70, and it’ll last you all the way to level 93, where the Poisonous Rascorpion becomes available. Eventually, the Azamay Marble Golem becomes available at level 110, and when boosted with its special Misc item, it’s the most damaging pet in the game. With the Earth Runestone, the Azamay Golem deals an average of 134 damage per turn at 75 MOB, while the Snitch does 74. This has not factored in the +64 CHA that you gain when the Golem attacks with the Runestone activated. That’s a HUGE difference, and might well be worth it to use the Runestone over other miscs when using the Azamay Golem.

EnergyYellow Muhrble (35) –>Yellow Muhrble (70) –> Yellow Muhrble (90)/ Asgardian Lion –> Perfected Creptus –> Controlled Platopulse (129) The level 35 Yellow Muhrble will serve you well up till you can pick up the level 70 and 90 versions. Asgardian Lion would do better, though. Perfected Creptus is next, although the pet is really weak compared to your final upgrade at level 129. The Controlled Platopulse attempts to paralyse both YOU and your foe 10% of the time, giving you an extra turn of pet damage. But that pet damage is 81, and you do get a 67% chance to avoid the paralysis at 200 CHA. The monster, if inorganic, only has a 38% to avoid paralysis. If it’s oragnic, he’ll have roughly 60% to avoid the paralysis as well. Pray hard on this gamble.

There’s little point in getting a Darkness pet until the level 75, but if you want one, the Broadkil series is good for the early game. Broadkil Carcassdroid can last until level 95, where the Fundead Lion is available. Guardians will want to pick up the Grim Arañacabra. All players will want to upgrade to the Corrupted Moglin eventually. Doom Sheep is the final Darkness pet for Adventurers. Guardians, you have an Eclipsus Moglin.

[UHG010]

Misc Items

Finally, we go onto Miscellaneous Items. A guideline to Misc Items would be to get one item each that covers for each individual combat defence before moving onto any Miscs which give you a special effect.

Special Effects

Major Azamay Earth Runestone An awesome item, although rather limited in use. This Runestone buffs up the Azamay Golem’s damage by a whopping 1.5 times. Raising the Golem’s damage per turn to 134 at 75 Defence, this hasn’t yet included the 62 bonus CHA that the Golem gets while attacking. Very specialised, but incredibly powerful.

Pet Whistle Essential for a Beastmaster. Non- Beastmasters, it’s definitely worth having if you want to swap out your Fairy Godmother for a more damaging pet.

All Guardians are encouraged to pick up the Astramorph. Shearhide form gives decent attacks, although its a little low on the accuracy. However, with the transfer of your stats into LUK and Endurance, the accuracy is easily made up for. This item is best used when an enemy’s Magic defence is particularly high, and you want to pull out those “wasted” stat points from INT into your other stats for the duration of the battle. It also gives you some extra health, and a decent boost to both STR, DEX and END. It can also be used if all your Mana has been dumped onto your enemy, and you don’t have another armour strong against the enemy (Unlikely, but possible.) While slightly weak on offence compared to current standards, it is still worth using for defence.

Trail Mix Series –> Guardian Trail Mix The Trail Mix series is pretty decent healing, especially if you can’t seem to spare the Spell slots for it. Guardians have a level 110 version, which gives a 113 level heal. It’s pretty darn good.

Scrumptious Bora’jee Using SP to regenerate health is awesome. And that’s the case here, opening the option for a Hybrid to throw up another offensive spell instead of being forced to heal, or double up with the Healing.

Defence

Hero’s Charm –> Granemor Captain’s Helm (Guardian Only) Adventurers have no choice but to stick with the Hero’s Charm for Melee Defence. The Granemor Captain’s Helm is Guardian only, and adds a very useful +10 to Melee defence in addition to a Darkness defence boost. Guardians can also choose to use the Irony Six. The defence is slightly lower, but it also gives Ranged defence in addition to melee defence at a respectable +7 Each. For Adventurers, the Nova Knight Helms also can do here.

Nova Knight Helm –> Nova Knight Great Helm Good blocking items. They both offer +7 Melee Defense and either 6 or 7 Ranged defense, plus a decent STR boost. They are also needed for the Nova Knight’s Full Set Bonus, which inflicts a Burn on the enemy. Great for additional damage.

Necronomoron –> Head of Raydius Dragon (Both are Guardian Only) Early on, the Necronomoron is good for Darkness defence, however, the Head of Raydius Dragon should be obtained quickly due to its valuable addition to Ranged Defences. Guardians should definitely spend the 200+ Tokens required to get the Head.

Helm of Drakonnan/ Helm of Drakonnas (Guardian Only) or Epheel’s Gift Guardians can pick up one of the two Helms for Magic Defence. I’d recommend Drakonnan to be kept in active, while Drakonnas in Storage. Adventurers should pick up the Epeel’s Gift.

Beleqwaya’s Gift or Teacup of Life Diamond of the Body is a useful effect. However, Teacup of Life gives a 10% boost to any form of healing. It buffs itself, giving you 11 HP per turn.

Power Shard IV: Invincible Hogg –> Power Shard VI: Invincible Hogg. For raw power, the Hogg Four adds an impressive +35 to both STR and END, also increasing your health as you go. Hogg Five isn’t too worth it, because all it adds is a measly 5 STR, even though the SP cost is lower. Eventually, Hogg Six gives an incredible +40 to both STR and END, boosting health and damage by a substantial amount. Really fantastic after mana-dumping. That 40 END translates into an additional chunk of HP, especially useful if you’re close to death, and praying that the additional health can get you out of a tight spot. The 40 STR can be used offensively as well, giving 5 damage bonus per 100% Stat, easily translating into around 40 more damage per turn with high level armours.

Offence

Drakelbane –> Power Shard V: Dr Boom (88) –> Power Shard VI: Dr Boom (103) Especially useful for Hybrids, the Drakelbane adds a whopping 35 INT for only 18SP a turn. Even better is the Dr Boom V and IV. It saves us a spell slot by giving us a spell to be used in our Temporary Slot. If you’re using some other weapon like Brihaldo Blade or the Valhallan Maul, you should definitely pick up the Power Shard V before making a final upgrade to Power Shard VI, where the level 103 version is actually more powerful and accurate than Galvawk’s Geas. A must-have!

Power Shard: Logan’s Claws I, II, III, V only. Adventurers now have a better option than the Great Forest Axe. Claws Five beats Great Forest Axe (100), so Adventurers will definitely want to pick up Claws Five. Claws Six costs Tokens, though, which is going to be painful on your purse. Do note, however, that Seedling Eevolu beats Claws V. Only ADVENTURERs should obtain this item, and that’s only if they cannot afford the slot for Seedling Eevolu.